>> gretchen: tomorrow we'll have country music star josh turner performing for us, amongst other guests. >> brian: fridays usually mean geraldo. he'll be joining us live. if you have to run from the tv, run to the radio. >> steve: go to our after the show show. we'll talk to the bayou billionaires. want to start now with a fox news alert t was terror after all. the intelligence officials saying on the record that attack that killed four americans including our u.s. ambassador in libya was indeed a terror attack on september 11. >> let me begin asking you would say ambassador stevens and the three other americans died as a result of a terrorist attack? >> certainly on that particular question i would say yes. they were killed in the course of a a terrorist attack on our embassy. bill: there is more to this story as we learn by the day. good morning i'm bill hemmer.

welcome to "america's newsroom.". martha: good morning. i'm martha maccallum. intelligence sources are also telling fox news the ringleader of this attack was a former guantanamo detainee. he is libyan. released from gitmo five years ago. he was transferred to libyan custody on the condition stay in jail. obviously that did not happen. bill: chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge working this story. the catherine, who is this man. what are we learning now? >> reporter: good morning. this story was first broken by bret baier last night is a turning point because the administration's narrative that benghazi was not a premeditated terrorist attacks is now fraying at the edges. a u.s. intelligence source telling me no firm conclusions have been reached. that the former guantanamo detainee, known extremist, whose operation is in eastern libya is under the microscope. there was no significant or sizable demonstration outside the consulate at

9:35 p.m. when the attack unfolded. in simple terms there was no demonstration that spun out of control with extremists hijacking the crowd and assaulting the consulate in two ways. a u.s. intelligence officials left the door to other al qaeda op atives. kudo seems to check all the books. was a member of lfig, the libyan group. this group trained fighters to afghanistan and iraq. and the lfig has been known to send fighters to syria. bill: they were blaming the film for a time and apparently that will go to the wayside. how does the administration explain the disconnect of the explanation anything? >> reporter: after the head of the counterterrorism center confirmed at the open hearing this was a terrorist attack the white house spokesman two hours later seemed to struggle to explain why the so-called demonstrators brought rpg's and used mortgage tas -- mortars. >> as i said last week as our ambassador to the united nations said on sunday as i

said the other day, based on what we know and now, and knew at the time, we have no evidence of a preplanned or premeditated attack. this however remains under investigation. >> reporter: but there is video shot by the reuters news service, you see it here, that is the night of the attack in benghazi. describes the men carrying rpg's as ex-rebels. there is no sign of a significant demonstration at this time. before benghazi was brand terrorism a u.s. intelligence official told fox that everything under investigation but they believe the tape and the demonstrations in cairo may have been the catalyst for what happened in benghazi. bill: who are more on this.ine g the story in washington. martha? martha: big story. the white house has been choosing its words very carefully what may have led to the attack in libya. will the white house change its tune now now that their own top terrorist official

has called the assault a terrorist attack? ambassador john bolton will join us away on that. bill: meanwhile anti-american protests rage on. students in pakistan and afghanistan. the latest group to go violent. hundreds burning u.s. and israeli flags and chanting anti-american slogans that is in the town of karachi. similar in kabul, afghanistan, where students go further. calling for a libyan style attack on america's ambassador in that country. martha: iraqis flooding the streets in the holy city of karbala. it is one of the most sacred sites for shiite muslims. they were calling for the american ambassador leave the country of iraq. that president obama make a televised apology for the movie that some say sparked protests out there. bill: in afghanistan signs that the drawdown is well underway. the military is trying to

move thousands of vehicles and tons of equipment out of the country, a difficult task due to the land-locked location and rough terrain. our troops are spending hours readying equipment for the long journey. >> i'm glad to get rid of it. it's a lot of stuff. it is a lot of stuff to keep accountability of. i have great officers and ncos who help me do that. it is nice to finally start making the process. bill: there are 23,000 marines and soldiers also departing afghanistan this year. leaving about 68,000 americans still fighting the war in that country. martha: all right. let's swing back now to the issue of the economy which is a big one of course in this election. number of americans seeking unemployment benefits last week dropped slightly 382,000. that is sign economists say that highering remains very weak. that number needs to be under 350,000 to show meaningful job growth.

stuart varney joins me now, anchor of "varney & company" on the fox business network. what do you make of this number today? >> this report suggest as very weak economy. you can not sugar coat this or spin this. this is a weakening jobs market. the trend is toward more layoffs, not less. there isn't much hiring going on to cancel out the layoffs. the president says the economy is moving in the right direction, but this year that is not the case. this calendar year the economy is sliding. if you want to get the unemployment rate, that is a separate number, below 8%, you've got to have literally hundreds of thousands of people get out of the workforce. drop out of the workforce. that is the only way you're going to get that unemployment rate down. this is a bad report. martha: we know bank of america, american airlines, all talking about more layoffs out there which is not a good sign. there are some reports that cite census data that says that the economy is turning around. what do you make of that, stuart? >> that is a demographic

study. that's the study of the movement of people. on a demographic basis, that study says the economy may be stablizing. young people leaving home, more of them. going to college, looking for a job. that's a demographic shift. but when that same study looks at purely economic indicators, it is a bad picture all over again. 8% unemployment. we have the homeownership rate down for the fifth straight year. and food stamps, 46 million americans. so the population movement may indicate some stabilization of a downward moving economy but purely economically we're still very weak. martha: what about before we go what about housing? any strengthening there? >> yes. that is a minor bright spot. the number of homes sold is going up. prices are rising just a little. looks like housing is bottomed out and maybe starting to go up on the other side of the hill. martha: stuart, thank you very much. stuart varney from the business network. bill: martha, jobs number

two as we get more and more into this. we'll talk to karl rove in a moment how all this place in. we're just getting started, folks. mitt romney responding to critics on secretly recorded video that he is for 100% of americans. karl rove on what governor romney needs to do. we'll talk to karl on that. martha: a stunning report, millions of americans, much more than first estimated will be hit with a tax penalty under the president's health care overhaul. we'll tell you who is hit the hardest. these numbers coming from the government. bill: lucky americans here alive safe on u.s. soil after the reverend jesse jackson help secured their release from africa. all three will tell us about the newfound freedom back at home. >> we're very elated and very grateful for reverend jackson's efforts. he and his team left no stone unturned to insure they took us out of prison and returned us back to the u.s. we're very grateful.

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martha: a violent prison riot in california leaves 13 inmates wounded. that includes one inmates shot by a corrections officer. prison authorities are not saying what started the riot. but at one point it involved 60 inmates. most injuries came from slashings and stabbings. it was quite a scene. but the guards also fired nonlethal rounds. six rounds from a rifle. things have settled down. >> takes a couple days to figure this out. we go to surveillance video. some times in the riots they're trying to get out of the way. they were not really involved. takes a couple days to figure out who was involved and who was a victim of right place wrong time. martha: over to that. back to bill. bill: folsom is famous for something else. john any cash. governor mitt romney pushing back on the secretly recorded video released. hear is the governor during

a hispanic event in south florida. >> this is a campaign about the 100% and over the last several years you've seen greater and greater divisiveness in this country. we hoped to come back together but instead you've seen us pull apart and politics driven us apart in some respects. my campaign is about the 100% in america. i'm concerned about them. bill: i will get more into this with karl rove. former deputy chief of staff of president george w. bush. karl, good morning to you. you write in "the wall street journal" this too shall pass. what follows is crucial. let me get what follows in the moment. how was the week? not great? >> everybody gets their turn in the barrel and very unpleasant and mitt romney is having his turn in the barrel. sometimes these things are sort of arbitrary. look he was inelegant what he said but everybody got the tone of it. if you pay taxes you will be more interested in mitt romney's tax reform than if you don't. and if you depend upon government, if you're a

government employee or dependent upon government to make your way in life you will be more likely to vote for president obama. less likely to vote for mitt romney. he is getting his turn in the barrel. this is though arbitrary. think about this. the president of the united states appears on david letterman and does not know the size of the national debt, which under his watch --. >> at least did not admit it. >> at least didn't admit. he could have said. just over $16. 20 billion, 27 billion, depending on the time of the day he could have admit the. sort of like one of those moments you say, wait a minute. then he dismissed it as not being a problem in the short run. i mean the debt has grown from 10 trillion $800 billion to 16 trillion on his watch. it has gone from 40% of the gdp to 70% of the gdp. we're starting to look like grease and the president

says i don't even know what the number is. nobody gives him his turn in the barrel. bill: you and him and other deactors would say it has gone up $6 trillion under your watch. >> 5 trillion to be fair. bill: $16 now and -- >> 10.8. i want to be fair to him. bill: here we have the polling numbers seem to suggest that the president's gaining sfwround on mitt romney. you're reaching back into 1980 to tell us things were much different even late in october. back that up. >> mid-september of 1980 jimmy carter was ahead of ronald reagan 44-40. i was a young director of the texas campaign, historically democrat state. i was the executive director of texans for reagan-bush. when poll came out, double-digit inflation, double-digit unemployment. interest rates at 20%. how could we be losing to this guy. in october, third week of october and polls came out reagan dropped to 39 and

carter had risen to 47 and i got to tell you i remember wallets snapping shut and people threatening to walk out of the headquarters and everybody's happened wringing and despondent. these polls are endowed with false scientific precision they don't deserve to have. if you want to look at number, look at president obama number in the polls. 83 last month. he has been at 47% on average and has hit 50% in only nine of 93. bill: this is what governor romney said last night. the question is not whether or not who cares about the poor and middle class. the question is whether or not who can help the poor and middle class. i argues i can and he can't. what you argue in "wall street journal" piece today you have some 47 days left and he has to make what he would do differently quite clear. >> right. bill: why are we still debating that with fewer than seven weeks to go and your advice would be what? >> first of all i'm not critical of governor romney

not laying out with great special fisty of details of his plan in organized fashion like he is doing now. if he had done it during the summer. swing voters and undecided voters would not pay as much attention as they are now. if he said it then and trying to say it again now, media would do like that is nothing new we'll not cover that. we would rather deal with minutia rather than the substance. he is doing a smart thing. he needs between now and the first debate not only lay out what he is doing with specificity but also to do three things. one is, tell people how it's going to affect the country. tell people how it will affect people like them. and, he needs to also have a welcome controversy. let me give you just one example. he could say as he said just a couple days ago, i want to build the xl pipeline to bring oil from canada and north dakota --. bill: keystone. >> keystone, i'm sorry.

refineries on the gulf coast. it means more affordable supplies energy and lower prices. what it means to people listening people in steel mills will get more orders. bill: make it apply. >> yeah, make it apply. bill: one more thing here, conversely, september 2nd rahm emanuel on "meet the press" talking about how president obama has to lay out agenda with clear vision over next four years otherwise he will lose. has the president done that clearly? >> no. other than i want to raise taxes on the top bracket to back way they were under clinton. raising taxes on small business and putting "buffett rule" in effect. what is the president say i've done everything right as he told cbs in july exempt i failed to tell a story of optimism to the people. let policies of stimulus and spending and deficits work its way out over the next four years. give me four more years. policies are in place. we'll be fine, just give me time. that is not an adequate program to gain votes of

americans. i think rahm emanuel is absolutely right. bill: let the record show, $5 trillion to be clear on that. thank you, karl rove. >> you bet, karl rove in washington. martha. martha: we're minutes away from a new hearing on a bombshell report of "operation fast and furious". chairman darrell issa fired up on one of the most controversial findings in the report. >> that is just the tip of the iceberg. just because you're not convicted doesn't mean you're vindicated. martha: what does it mean for the attorney general this morning? we have a live report. bill: stopped for a fender bender but got a whole lot worse after that. all this caught on tape. them a. you can try snapshot from progrsive before you switch your insurance. [ horn honks ] just plug snapshot into your car, and drive like you -- to see if your good driving could save you up to 30%. so try the way to save that's as unique as you are.

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martha: it seems every day we have images like this and this is the scene in pakistan right now. we've got new video of

protesters, riot police, trying to stop the crowd from storming the embassy there. something like 20 embassies across the middle east have now had issues with protesters in front of them. pakistan is the image that we're showing you right now. keep you on top of it. show you new video as it comes in. bill: 23 past. top stories right now. prosecutors in colorado movie massacre want to look at the suspect's notebook. james holmes charged with a murder of 12, wounding 58 in a tragic night in aurora. chick-fil-a getting green light to open in chicago neighborhood after the councilman stopped opposition. he reversed course after the food chain stopped supporting organizations that are against same-sex marriage. microwave popcorn. man's lawyers got illness called popcorn lung. inhaling buttery aroma that

comes with treats. minus the salt, i tell you, martha. martha: we've got a fox news alert from cap -- capitol hill. house government oversight committee minutes away from opening a hearing on the justice department's report on "operation fast and furious". the botched gun-walking program that allowed thousands of weapons to move across the mexican border and into the hands of some of the most violent drug cart else left many people wondering how that could happen. william la jeunesse live on the story as he has been throughout this story live in los angeles. the report has been out. a lot of folks spent a lot of time reading it over the last 12 hours or so. what were the main findings in this, william. >> reporter: the report found "fast and furious" happened because of poor judgement, lack of oversight, incompetence and laziness and total disregard for public safety and human life. primary blame directed at atf and u.s. attorney's office in phoenix but in

washington it is on the justice department officials failed to perform even basic duties. the report however exonerated attorney general eric holder saying he did not know that the u.s. helped funnel guns to mexico. why? lanny breuer, his chief of the criminal division failed to tell him. for that he should face a performance review. yesterday holder admonished but did not fire brewer. deputy attorney general jason weinstein immediately resigned yesterday because the report said he should have known and could have stopped the gun being drag operation. the report recommended 14 officials face discipline. holder cleared two of his top aids though both failed to tell him the shooting of brian terry was linked to fast an furious weapons. >> just because you're not convicted doesn't mean you're vindicated. attorney general holder didn't ask the questions, didn't read the memos up and down the chain the people worked for him, political

appoint east responsible to him failed to do their jobs. >> reporter: martha, you may recall eric holder was asked in congressional hearing about the wiretap applications he would be quote, surprised if the gun-walking tactics were contained in the wiretap applications. the report found details were there including that five-pain cover memo. martha. martha: what about the atf, william, agency all this seems to go back to? >> reporter: the report ripped them the worse, especially atf mean exin. basically it said that former acting director kenneth melson he retired yesterday. his number two, billy hoover already has gotten out. bill mcmahon still drawing a paycheck will likely be fired as the agent in charge, bill newell and other agents in washington and phoenix. those below newell, they will likely face a review panel. if fired they could regain their positions through

civil service procedures. the inspector general, martha, mike horowitz will testify on capitol hill in about 10 minutes. back to you. martha: we'll see what comes out of that. william, thank you so much. congressman jason chaffetz will be with us moments from now as well. he has been front and center in this whole investigation. we'll talk to him. we'll bring you head lines that come out of all that moments away. bill: that we shall. 27 past. we are also learning what may have sparked last week's attack on the u.s. embassy in cairo. it does not appear to be that movie. ambassador john bolton what may have been the true trigger not just in esfwipt but what we're learning in benghazi libya. martha: reverend jesse jackson help two americans jailed abroad taste freedom. the reverend and the two men he helped to freedom sit down in the fox news exclusive. >> this could open the door extending indefinitely, as the president promised the death penalty. b and open the door to let

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martha: fox news alert. we are now learning what may have sparked last week's attack on the u.s. embassy in egypt. fox news obtained an intelligence report that suggests that the assault may have been connected to the imprisonment of this convicted terrorist, the so-called blind sheikh. he is serving a life sentence in u.s. federal prison for his role in the first bombing of the world trade center. those are some of the scenes

from what was happening outside the embassy but we all remember the world trade center bombing back in 1993. the homeland security report reveals a web posting from days before that attack, two days before, that called on egyptians to rise up and quote, force america to release the sheikh even if it requires burning the embassy down with everyone in it. john bolton is a former u.n. ambassador and fox news contributor. ambassador bolton, a lot of revelations about connections to al qaeda and 9/11 that were not revealed before yesterday. what do you make of all this? >> well i think it is further evidence that the administration's argument this had something to do with that ridiculous movie trailer and that it was all completely spontaneous and basically we were the ones that had to modify our behavior continues to shred and that the risk of terrorism, risk of support for the blind sheikh and his terrorist attack of 20 years ago, the clear evidence of involvement by al qaeda in

the megreb and benghazi attack show the war on terror is long way from being over. martha: i think that is the biggest point here. why do you think they would send out susan rice, the ambassador to the u.n., with the message, make sure you let everyone know this is spontaneous attack when there had been warnings on september the 9th. they were collecting data that showed that there was a lot of concern that this was related to this sheikh and then wanting him to be released from the prison that he is in north carolina? so they had this information. why do you think they would want anything, anyone to believe any differently? >> because it would be consistent with the obama's administrations political line dough mess he canly here at home that the war on terrorism is essentially over. that libya has been a great success. that all of this relates to the film and not to underlying currents and issues that are going to continue to dog the united states around the region.

take the libya thing. the fact we're now pretty well can conclude that al qaeda was behind that attack also renders the issue whether it was premeditated or not much less relevant. if al qaeda is back, indeed, if it was an on the fly call, if al qaeda is now capable of making audibles on the line of jimmage that makes them a bigger threat, not a lesser threat. martha: it looks like a very coordinated al qaeda discussion to hit our embassies. and when you think about, you know, the murder of chris stevens in all of this and you look at this man, ben kumu, thought to be one of the people really much behind this benghazi attack his ties go back to september 11th, the original september 11th with financial ties all the way through gitmo and then over to the current, anniversary we just had on september 11. >> yeah. the idea that the attacks were 11 years after the

first september the 11th on september the 11th certainly argues against coincidence. i think if it turns out this person in libya really is involved on behalf of al qaeda i think any republican who supported the closing of gitmo and anybody on the democratic side including the president, whoever supported it need to recant sooner rather than later. we also had a former gitmo detainee killed in libya on september the 10th. number two al qaeda there. this idea you can release people from gitmo and they will not return to the war on terror is now disproven beyond any sled of doubt. martha: the only thing we really here hear from the administration primarily about the war on terror is drone attacks helped eliminate some members of al qaeda, a lot of members of al qaeda but this would make it appear there is a resurgence of sorts on the ground? do we have what we need in terms of intelligence? are we paying attention?

should chris stevens been in benghazi at that consulate given the fact there were reports he was concerned about the al qaeda in libya? >> either we don't have adequate intelligence or the state department and government operating in a fog about what the actual environment is. if you think the environment's benign, then you don't worry about intelligence, that is obviously a huge misperception. so i think that the concern about the continuing threat of terrorism is something we've got to take more seriously. honestly i'm all in favor of the drone attacks, the more the better but it hark ends back to the clinton administration use of tomahawk cruise missiles. they do achieve a precise objective. those are tactics, not a strategy to conduct a global war on terrorism. >> ambassador bolton, thank you very much. >> thank you. martha: good to have you. bill: we have two very lucky americans back home and they are safe and they are sound. this after the reverend

jesse jackson secured their release from a harrowing ordeal in foreign prison western africa, country of gambia. reverend jackson with me and two men he helped me. amadou janneh and tamsir jassey. welcome back to freedom. >> thank you. bill: i can imagine what the ordeal was like for you, it would not have been possible without all the accounts i read without you. >> let me say first. we want to thank kathleen foster on fox who went with us. bill: terrific producer. >> who got the story while others seemed to ignore the story. here is 90% muslim country where there is no anti-american rebellion. the u.s. embassy did its best to work with us as far as they could go but nine citizens have been killed last thursday night and 38 more were to go. when we heard that we

immediately called the president's office in gambia and ask could we commie meet with him. that was granted. a, the result was we were able to get a moratorium, indefinite moratorium on killing the other 38. those who were expected to die now expected to live. those who were in prison now are home. so salvaging lives and getting them free was a big deal. bill: he talked about the profound respect he had for you and the fact you went there to get them free. here you have two men, american citizens, amadou, you were given a life sentence? >> yes. bill: you served 15 months in prison. >> yes. bill: you're a former professor at university of the tennessee. >> correct. bill: tamsir, you were given a sentence of 20 years. you served six years and six months in that prison. what was that like? >> it was a very difficult time. being separated from your family and your loved ones. prisons all over the world are not easy to be in

especially in poor country like gambia, it wasn't easy. but you just have to be strong and hope that one day somehow good lord almighty will come down and give you a handout of there. bill: get an angel from the sky who went to that country. >> exactly. bill: tamsir, you have not been home 24 hours. >> yes. we've just been here less than 24 hours and we've experienced quite a dramatic changes. moments ago, just over a couple of days ago, we were trying to figure out how to survive another decade or so in jail and abruptly were told to leave the country right away because reverend jackson had been in town and secured your release. bill: did you think this day would come? >> we are very excited.

bill: to the viewers at home, i don't know if you want to disclose me at not, they are so new back home to the u.s. you're wearing flip-flops because that is only thing you had to leave th with. >> they were told to go back to the cell to get remaining clothes and, they left all that. they didn't go back. bill: job well-done. kathleen foster and roger ailes and everybody else who helped along the way. >> thank you. bill: gentlemen, welcome home. >> thank you very much. bill: best to all of you. reverend, great job. >> thank you, sir. bill: martha. martha: what a fantastic story. welcome home to them is right. all right, let's look what is going on in the u.s. markets right now after the disappointing jobs report came out this morning. down about 28. markets had a good run of late. 13,550 is the number for the dow jones industrials. we'll keel an eye on the markets throughout the show. millions of americans expected to be hit with a stiff tax penalty due to president obama's health

care law. this comes from a government report that was just released. does it mean that the president has broken a promise in the health care reform bill to the voters? brand new polling that just came out. three critical swing states in this election. we'll show you where candidates stand right now. right back in "america's newsroom" after this. [ male announcer ] for the saver, and a big first step. for the spender who needs a little help saving. for adding "& sons." for the dreamer, planning an early escape. for the mother of the bride. for whoever you are, for whatever you're trying to achieve, pnc has technology, guidance, and over 150 years of experience to help you get there. ♪

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martha: we have some dramatic new video that came to us out of lubbock, tex saks. an officer risks life and him to save a woman from serious injury. take a look at this. middle of the screen. officers talking to a woman about a fender bender. he bear hugs her, pushes her out of the way as a cruiser barrels by. that police cruiser was hit by a van the officer was injured but we're told he is

doing okay now. woman got cuts and bruises. they both could have lost their lives. incredible scene. that van, give you three guesses what was the problem with the driver? a few too many drinks. bill: dash-cam video tells a lot about the dangers folks are in every day. the number of americans facing a tax pen knelt under president obama's health care overhaul are jumping dramatically and those facing it are in the middle class. the congressional budget office finding six million uninsured americans will get hit with a penalty. that is 60% jump from the previous estimate. mike lee, member of senate joint economic committee on this. what does this mean, sir? >> this means what we feared all along, what we as republicans have been predicting all along, this will hurt people and middle income earners and will hurt a lot of them. when the supreme court rewrote the law earlier this summer to uphold it as a tax it subjected six million

americans to the tax. that is a big tax increase. it is a tax increase on middle income americans. bill: what does it mean about the pledge not to raise taxes on those who make more than $250,000 a year as a family? >> it means that it evaporated into thin air and we've got to do something about it. i've introduced legislation, s-3411, that would do just that. that would make clear that this isn't a tax and it would rescind any part of the individual mandate provisions to the affordable care act that do in fact impose a tax. bill: all right. here is, now some of the specifics for our viewers on the screen here. this is what we're finding out at the moment here. that the average penalty of $1200 per year in the 2016. the collection estimate would be about what, is it 78 -- $7 billion on that. and the collection estimate bp $98 billion. basic surgery didn't turn out so well from me as i try

to grab the numbers across the screen. what does it say about the financial stability of this law? what does this mean for us, not just in 2016 but even beyond that? >> well, it confirms what we've seen over and over again. as the cbo reports continue to come out telling us this law will cost a lot more to implement than we were promised that it would cost. this is a major, major step and this is a major break in the case confirming what a lot of us have been predicting all along, this would become unsustainables, be unaffordable and would amount to a wholesale breach of a promise not to raise taxes on middle income americans. bill: do you think people realize this? are they starting to see it now? >> they're starting to see it now. data continue to trickle in. we continue to get more reports from the congressional budget office telling us this is the case. americans don't want this and they don't need it. that's why we continue to push for legislation that would either repeal the affordable care act all

together or at a minimum defund it, or as my bill does, s-3411, it removes tax assertion of authority. removes anything could be read as congress's power to tax. if you remove that, according to the supreme court the whole thing crumbles. bill: we'll see what comes out of cbo next. the story is changing for some time. mike lee, republican out of utah. we'll follow your legislation and see where it goes. thank you, sir. 12 minutes before the hour. here's martha. martha: there are new questions out there how much the american public really knows about the president. we have the latest on a newspaper's investigation into the president's past. bill: also a new battle for a marine veteran who wants to fly the flag he fought for. why some are calling his display of the american flag offensive. >> i don't think that is offensive at all. he served our country. so he should have it out. i think that is ridiculous. just like the kids can't aunder god.

4g lte has the fastest speeds. so let's talk about coverage. based on this chart, who would you choose ? wow. you guys take a minute. zon, hands down. i'm going to show you guys another chart. pretty obvious. i don't think color matters. pretty obvious. what'sretty obvious about it ? that verizon has the coverage. verin. verizon. we're going to go to another chart. it doesn't really matter how you present it. it doesn't matter how you present it. verizon. more 4g lte coverage than all other networks combined.

bill: there was out rage today in california after an iraq war veteran is told to take down the american flag that he hung from his balcony. he and his family put it up on september 11th. the neighbors say the request to take it down is ridiculous and sad. one even pointing out management says nothing to a neighbor who leaves the garrage out. hear is the vet's wife on what management told them. >> she wanted it to be removed so that it didn't offend anybody who didn't believe in the american flag. we just wanted to put up a flag and show support. so, that's all. bill: the flag is on a pole instead of hanging from the porch area. the manager not available for comment. martha: wonder why. back to the election now and a view of president obama.

the "washington examiner" has looked into. they have done an exhaustive look at the president's past. joined by doug mckelway who has been taking a look at that. he joins us from washington. hi, doug. >> reporter: good morning, martha. the examiner report on president obama is results of a four-month long investigation by the newspaper. it challenges wildly held assumptions about the president's childhood, education and political life. calling the young obama a child of privilege, not of hardship. >> you see barak and i were both raised by families doesn't have much in the way of money or material possessions but who had given us something far more valuable, their unconditional love. >> i'm sure he had a difficult childhood give the circumstances with his parent and so forth but, from a financial standpoint, a social standpoint and so forth it was not underprivileged childhood. >> reporter: the examiner reports that the indonesian neighborhood where his mother and stepfather raised

young barry was most he is exclusive in jakarta. later sent to live with his grandparents in july where his grandmother was bank president and attended harvard law school. after 12 years at lecturer of university of chicago law school "time" magazine said in 2008, within a few years he had become a rock star professor with hoards of devoted students. students evaluation of obtained by the examiner told 2003. only a third of students recommended his courses. >> steadily went down last five or six years he was there. he was among the lowest ranked professors. >> reporter: in dreams from my father he wrote quote, legal practice i worked mostly with churches and community groups an men and women who built grocery stores and groups in the inner city and housing for the poor. this document says the young lawyer represented well-heeled clients. in one case he represent admittally connected preacher and real estate developer, bishop arthur

brazier, who filed to provide heating and running water in 15 apartments. he had all 10. president obama has taken a lot of criticism from the right, later this morning we'll examine the examiner's findings that the far left became disenchanted with state senator obama for selling out in their words to the chicago political machine. martha? martha: doug, thank you very much. so for more on the "washington examiner" special report, the obama you don't know, all 10 parts of that can be read on the "washington examiner".com. bill: there are stunning details we're learning about the attack that killed four americans in libya. we'll talk to bret baier in a moment who broke the news that a former gitmo detainee is believed to behind that assault in benghazi. martha: what a story. owe will be here in a moment. brand new info on the botched government gun-walking operation that was linked to this border patrol agent's death s brian

terry's family any closer to this morning to finding out what really happened to their son. >>. >> he was an american hero to me and i just think he would want to be remembered like that. and that's why it is so important for me to get closure.

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and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. hamouda. martha: shocking new reports this morning that murdered u.s. ambassador chris stevens lived in fear for his life up to that attack in benghazi. he reportedly believed his name was on an al-qaida hit lis an was concerned about the terror group's growing presence. al-qaida's growing presence in libya at the time of his death. he also talked about the never ending security threats in the country. brand-new hour starts now of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. these reports coming as the obama administration admits for the first time that the and shraugt wa onslaught was a

terrorist attacked but sticking by the argument that it was not preplanned. greg palkot is in trip plea, we understand the secretary of state is here. >> yes he is in town in tripoli right now set to have meetings with the president of libya's parliament as well as the prime minister here. they will be discussing the investigation into ambassador chris stevens as well as three other americans in benghazi on the eastern side of this country. it is about honoring the americans. burns will be attending a memorial service with libyan officials. we are told it will be a somber a fair, libyans will show their gratitude, sorry. regret. we have heard a lot of regret for the deaths of those americans and burns will be adding his thoughts to that.

he has called stevens one of the finest foreign service officers of this generation. >> we heard great things about what he did for the people there. what is the latest on the investigation on your end, greg? >> reporter: we've been grilling officials here over the past couple of hours. they are basically standing by the comments coming from the government. the latest word from the prime minister today is that eight libyans have been arrested and that a local militant group with al-qaida leanings could be a suspected group. fox news sources have been saying that an al-qaida figure sufyan ben qumu could be leading that pack. he is in fact a wanted man here in libya. f.b.i. will be looking at all of that. they tell us their investigation is well underway. agents on the ground here in tripp lee. they could be be over to benghazi as early as tomorrow. security concerns have held them up. there is a 50-member

anti-response marine team here saying they are staying put for now. bill: thank you. appreciate those reports, greg, thank you. martha: as the details continue to unfold surrounding the events that led to that attack what kind of political fallout, if any, can the white house expect to face for all of this? bret baier broke the news last evening on the gtmo detainee whose trail goes from september 11th to this current anniversary of september 11th and puts him right in the center of that benghazi attack. he is the anchor bret baier of special report and joins me now. good morning. >> good morning, martha. martha: huge story in a you broke last night on this because it makes the whole scenario dave refpblt it feels as though al-qaida is coordinated in these attacks, and inspiring these protests across the whole region rather than a movie trailer to incited folks in the street.

>> listen, martha, this things pieced together sort of like pieces of a quilt. we had people in the intelligence community saying it was organized and coordinated from the very beginning. all of our reporters were getting pieces and tidbits along the way. then it started to come together even more completely, as intelligence was pinpointing on al-qaida, specifically. then i got a tip that it was about specific member of al-qaida who had been released from kwan bay. sufyan ben qumu. and he was released from gtmo in 2007. was a member and it's a bad picture of him. the it's the picture in his gtmo files e. was a member of this group in al-qaida on the ground and believed to be involved in this attack and may have even led this attack on the consulate. it's not just about him. it's really about what the government knew about al-qaida in libya.

and the weakly standard has this very detailed report about an unclassified report put together by the library of congress in august, and it was put together specifically about al-qaida in libya, and how they are moving from an organizational operation to very clandestine-al-qaida stronghold, and that they were really a launching point for al-qaida going to the future. inner twaoeupbg all of the al-qaida iinventorierinne, twining all of them in the muslim world. that is really the bigger story and the political implications i think are significant. martha: i think most people would agree with you. this is an administration that has not used the phrase war on terror, that has really attacked

it from the sky and many would say, john bolton said moments ago, successfully in terms of that part of the equation. but given the intelligence that you all are uncovering, why would the white house have their first reaction be that this was a spontaneous eye tac responsible taeup a spontaneous attack that came from the street, why not being average what happened from the get go given what they knew. >> there is no answer yet. it's astonishing when you look at all the sound bytes from susan rice, the ambassador from the united nation, the spontaneous uprising that got out of control and some elements hijacked the protest. we have been reporting on this over the days and there wasn't a significant protest outside that consulate, apparently, before this attack happened, and now you're hearing about this

al-qaida element that was very, very prevalent. yesterday the national -- martha: i'm sorry i want to point out there is the video their shadowy figures walking through the streets in benghazi that night. and there are three or four you can see in this video. i urge everybody at home to take a close look at this. there is no apparent protest e embroiling around them in the street. and this is outside the consulate where chris stevens was brutally murdered with three others. >> ambassador stevens had concerns about al-qaida's strength and growth in libya himself, we're report. i reporting. if you look at this unclassified report this is the stuff that is unclassified. you can only imagine what the classified report tells you about the strength and power of al-qaida growing in libya. as the days go on here we're uncovering more and more about the significance of the ferris

threathe terrorist threat there. the early statements are really question marks. martha: this issue of where the president is now on talking about this. on the links that we're seeing on al-qaida's presence in this part of the country with the american embassy under threat, we have a report to 30 to 50,000 people outside the pakistan embassy according to one report that john bolton directed us to. where is hill hill and the president talking about this issue? it's a big question. >> this administration hasn't wanted to talk about the war on terror, hasn't talked about radical jihaddists or the effort to come after the u.s. all around the world. the extremists are there. in any country people on the ground will tell you that. that hasn't been a common theme. martha: unfortunately chris stevens a great ambassador and three others learned that lesson the hard way.

great reporting. we look forward to more of it today and tonight. stick around we have another thing to talk about. bill: moments ago live on the floor of the senate senate minority leader mitch mcconnell blasting president obama for what mcconnell says is the failure to lead on numerous issues. this just happens. it runs about three minutes. have a lock and listen on this. >> mr. president we all understand there is an election going on around here in a few months, but i'd like to remind my colleagues on the other side that we've also got a job to do right now. i mean we've got multiple crisis-level issues to deal with, and yet our democratic friends don't seem to want to do a thing. never before, never before has a president and a senate done so little to confront challenges so great. we've got a $16 trillion debt,

democrats haven't bothered to pass a budget in three years. every single american will get hit with a massive tax hike in just three months if we don't act to prevent it. democrats are saying we shouldn't do anything about it. just go off the cliff, go off the cliff, and let's see what happens. the defense budget is about to suffer automatic cuts at the president's own defense secretary. the sevens tk*ebg b secretary in thidefense secretary in this administration has described as horrible. the middle east is in turmoil. we remain at war in afghanistan and with al-qaida. and senate democrats haven't even bothered to pass a defense

authorization bill. gas prices have more than doubled over the past four years, doubled in just four years, democrats have responded by conspiring with the president to make sure a domestic pipeline didn't get built. just let the debt grow, let taxes go up, let the defense cuts stand, let gas prices get higher and higher, don't pass a budget, don't pass any spending bills, don't do anything that involves making tough choices. just sit around, sit around and kill time in the hopes that the voters will focus on the other guys instead. look, our constituents didn't send us here to watch the clock

or to offer running commentary here on the floor. they sent us here to make a difference. we've got jobs to do. it's about time we did them. in these very, very challenging times americans deserve leadership. never before, never before have a president and a senate majority party done so little when our challenges were so great. there is no excuse for it. bill: that is mitch mcconnell on the floor of the senate. brett is back with me now. i don't know how often he talks with me on the floor of the senate but you're 47 days from the election. that is an address that could have been written for mitt romney on the stump. >> reporter: yeah, bill, you know it's almost october and baseball season, that is bringing the high heat for mitch mcconnell, and on the floor of

the senate basically he said some things like that before, but putting it all together in a speech like that is significant because republicans say that the democrats are standing in the way on a number of issues. now, democrats will say the opposite, and they are going to hold a press availability today at 12 noon and we'll likely hear the opposite about house leadership. the bottom line, bill, as you know is there are big, big things that are pending that will all get jammed into that lame-duck session right after the election. bill: there was an indictment about where we stand as a country too. look for more on this. bret baier there live in washington. martha what is coming up next. martha: brand-new polls to take a look at, they show that one of the candidates is losing some ground in several key battleground states. bill: new details on a mexican prison break right across the border from texas. that was an inside job, oh

yeah? martha: an amusement park ride that is anything but amusing. riders stuck dangling 300 feet in the air. >> the reason why we were on there is he's trying to get me over my fear of heights. [laughter] >> so when it stopped i had a real hard time. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

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bill: breaking news from overseas. the state department warning americans to stay away from pakistan. that travel warning points to anti-american protests and alleys i rallies in the country. ambassador john bolton told us 45 minutes ago one demonstration near the embassy in bad r-r has grown upwardin islamabad has grown to 50 people. this poses a tere just threats to u.s. citizens. americans in that country are

strongly urged to stay away from large gatherings and demonstrations. that word just out. martha: back here at home now we have brand-new fox polls that show that president obama has an edge over governor mitt romney in three key swing states, among likely voters take a look in florida the president ahead by friday. in ohio the romney-ryan ticket trailing by 7% in ohio. in virginia, obama biden is up by 7% as well. we know that there is a bus tour planned for ohio for the romney campaign and we'll talk to them in a little while. let's bring it to monica tkroul crowley, and doug schoen, both are fox news contributor and friends of this tprapl. goo this program. good to have you. martha: those are the headlines we saw in these three states.

you have likely voters who are extremely interested in the election. the numbers taoeupbt up quit tighten up quite a bit. doug this would be a good argument or turn out and firing up the base for both sides, right? >> absolutely, martha, there is conflicting data on the subject, the gallop swing state poll out today shows that democratic enthusiasm is up, and up significantly. there is a distinction between enthusiasm being um and thos up and those particularly interested. awful this says is will governor romney to have a chance to succeed in -ts the swing states has to get his extreme partisans out and hope the president obama discouraged voters are less enthusiasm enthusiasm as i can about voting. martha: mitt romney is down in

florida by 3, down in 7 in ohio on this and down by 5 in virginia on who do you trust to do a better job eupl proffering the economy and creating jobs. >> this is his strength. he's been a very successful ceo and turning around companies. there are gallop polls and rasmussen polls that show the race a lot closer, there are mixed results. governor romney, the last couple of days with this whole 47% controversy he has really begun to clarify his economic message. i would argue he should have do it earlier. better later than never. what he is saying is look, barack obama is presenting a choice that you have four years of evidence on here, in terms of the results, a catastrophic u.s. economy in terms of unemployment, economic growth.

high spending. highly unplop louisian unpopularized social medicine. i'm going to turn this around and make it economic freedom. when he really clarifies and bounds that home and every day from here on out he will turning those numbers around. martha: they plan to hit the swing states hard. i want to read something. it's a call for mitt romney to clarify the significance of the moment that we are living n. he says when abraham lincoln and winston churchill took their countries towards a crucib hr-rbg e there was never a question in their minds that national purpose trumped politicaphreutphroeuloyal

tee. he says mitt romney should take a few moments and really determine what the people deserve from this election and him. >> i would say to my friend monica you do a better job presenting the case from governor romney than he has done recently. we don't have a sense from either candidate about our overarching sense of national purpose. what you didn't hear from mitch mcconnell was the need for all politicians of all stripes to get together around the crisis in the middle east, and the crisis with our economy, and develop an overarching sense of national purpose. martha: doug we haven't heard from that president obama or hillary clinton. >> i made that very clear. you didn't hear it from senator mcconnell either. what the american people want, particularly swing voters is results, leadership and optimism. martha: we've got to go. they are big ideas. thank you so much monica and doug, always good to talk to you. bill: in a moment here there are

more developments overseas on the investigation of what happened in libya, and there are new protests and we'll tell you about those in a moment. also this -- martha: answering questions about his report on the failed gun running sting fast and furious.

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-tsdz. bill: fox news alert i want to take you to capitol hill again. this is a house oversight hearing underway and the inspector general michael horowitz is the only question. he's testifying about his findings on the failed fast and furious gun running string. i talked to jason chaffetz earlier today, he too is questioning there today just before this hearing started. jason chaffetz good morning and welcome back here to "america's newsroom." >> good morning.

bill: were you satisfied with the inspector general's report inside the d. o.j.? >> i think the inspector general actually did a very thorough job i applaud him for the. bill: but? >> but there is still a lot of work to do. it's hardly time for the attorney general to take a victory lap. you can remember we had 2,000 ak-47's knowingly and willfully given to the drug cartel. we had a drug border patrol agent, dozens dead in mexico. a mexican helicopter shot down at one point. an unknown number of crimes that have been committed on the other end of these guns that are still missing and yet the attorney general decides that, hey, i've been vindicated. no, no. bill: he has been in your crosshairs for some time now, and in this report it did not criticize eric holder, but fingered lower-level officials. what are your questions today during this hearing? >> i think one of the key questions is when the attorney general did become aware of in it january of 2011 what did doe

about it? one of the big problems and the reason we are talking about this is february 4th song was begin a letter that was tote lal alley false. at letter was issued in may, totally false. we get to the end of the year and they have to withdraw that letter. what did the attorney general do once he did know about it. what about these 14 people? these are very senior officials, you've got the head of the criminal division of the department of justice who says, whoops i made a mistake i didn't do this, is there going to be any sort of accountability and responsibility within the department of justice? and most importantly what are the systemic changes that we will have in place so this never ever happens again. bill: one resigned, one has been fired, that apparently didn't good enough for you. >> they still haven't provided the documents that we deserve, in fact the inspector general on page one of the report says they should actually go to the courts and allow these 14 wiretaps to

be unsealed because they will indicate that there were red flags and people should have known that there was gun walking happening. bill: this report talked about misguided strategies, errors in judgment, management failures. do you think this now insulates eric holder from responsibility? >> it's hardly and excuse. ignorance is hardly and excuse. for instance the acting director of the act, ken melson, one person who stepped aside, he's there in that job for roughly two years, you know how many times he met with the attorney general? once. what kind of claim to economy see does the attorney general have when you meet with the head of the atf -rpblg, you say well i didn't know what was going on. is that what we really him to do is raoet with th meet with the

acting director of the atf one time? that is hardly what we want him to do. martha: new information that is dramatically changing about what we know about last week's deadly attack on the attack on the consulate in benghazi. they are now acknowledging it was a terror attack and not a spontaneous outgrowth from the growth. we have reactions from both campaigns, the owe obama campaign and the romney campaign after this. i'm only in my 60's... i've got a nice long life ahead.

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bill: the administration now confirming that the deaths of four americans last week in benghazi libya came as a result of a terror attack on september 11th and not a spontaneous protest as the consulate has previously suggested. will that shift have an impact on the race for the white house. ben le bow, national press secretary for obama is rust. how damaging is this to the campaign when it comes to perceptions of foreign policy and keeping americans safe? >> listen, in terms of the situation in libya i'd refer you to the director of of the national counterterrorism center's testimony yesterday. they are conducting an investigation right now to find out who perpetrated this violence and to bring them to justice. throughout these incidents in the middle east you've seen that the president's first concern is the first security of the american personnel in the region and our embassies. we've stepped up security

alternate the diplomatic posts in the region. he's reached out to leaders in the communities to make sure they are meeting their obligations. he said he'd end the war in iraq in a responsible way, he's done that. he'd refocus on al-qaida. key terrorists have been taken off the battlefield. he has a plan to end the war in afghanistan and is restoring our lives around the world. bill: what i hear you saying with regard to benge is that there is no kwebg. do you believe that? >> listen governor romney weighed in before he had a full set of facts about a developing situation. we are not going to do that. the president isn't somebody who shoots first and aims later. bill: some would argue that the president has addressed the american people official low on one occasion anofficial officially on one occasion i in the rose garden.

>> a career national security official shared with the american people the information that we have about this situation. bill: i understand that, but you know and i know -- understood, but everybody watching this. everybody watching this knows that president obama is the commander-in-chief. it's his job. will he address the american people and clear up these stories? >> well, listen, the administration testified before congress yesterday and shared the information that we have at this time. if there are significant developments of course the president will update the american people just as other administration officials will update the american people as soon as we have any information. but let's -- let's talk about what the contrast is here with the other side. governor romney is somebody who hasn't outlined a foreign policy, he hasn't outlined a plan for america's relation w-s any region of the world.

he hasn't outlined a plan to end the war in afghanistan. he hasn't mentioned al-qaida. bill: a u.s. ambassador, one of the leading members fighting this war overseas, a man of enormous respect and he is gone. >> that's right. that's why the administration is engage 24 hour even engaged 24 hours a day right now to find out who perpetrated that violence. there are officials working around the clock. bill: i want to be clear on this. there is no plan right now for president obama to tell the american people what happened. >> the administration will constantly update the american people as soon as new information is known. the director of the national counterterrorism center, who is collecting all the intelligence briefed the senate and the american people yesterday on the information we have at this time. as soon as additional information is available there will be an update.

bill: this is the president on david letterman the other side when asked about the debt. role this. >> we don't have to worry about it short term. right now interest rates are low because people still consider the united states the safest and greatest country ever, rightfully so, but it is a problem long term, and even medium term. bill: standby that statement? we don't have to worry about the debt in the short term. what do you make of that. >> i think that was selectively edited. listen he's got a 4 trillion-dollar deficit reduction plan that he spent the past year fighting for, but republicans in congress have obstructed it, they refuse to ask the wealtheist for a dime to reduce the deficit. every bipartisan committee who has looked at this says you need tough cuts. bill: you're right, and to be fair, and to be fair in that interview he talked about raising revenues, i think he talked about doing it in a

balanced way when taking care of the debt and the deficit. this is the number i have, you raise taxes on the richest americans you bring in $80 billion a year. $80billion covers the interest on the debt for nine weeks. is that good enough? >> well, listen, he's signed into law $2 trillion worth of deficit reduction already and he's got a 4 trillion-dollar deficit reduction plan. ryan and romney have not proposed an acceptable reduction plan. they have proposed 5 trillion-dollar tax cuts to the wealthist americans. that is not a responsible reduction plan. bill: $80 billion a year is that a serious proposal? you're looking at 16 trillion. >> that is not the entirety of the proposal but it's an important part of the package. that's why the bipartisan debt commission have said you need a combination of spending cuts and

revenue to reduce the deficit in a responsible way. bill: thank you. you come on back real soon. we'll hear from the romney team very soon. martha: you heard from obama campaign spokesman ben labolt with bill. we'll talk to the romney campaign, we'll get a fair & balanced look and get their take on the continue verse he's. martha: a morning traffic report takes an unexpected turn when a high-speed crash is caught on television. we'll show you that as well. we'll be right back.

martha: fair & balanced you just heard moments ago from the obama campaign now here to respond andrea saul the press secretary to the romney campaign. good morning. good to have you. >> thank you. martha: we just watched ben labolt and bill speak being about the revelations that have come out of the situation in

libya. we are learning more about an al-qaida connection to the raid on the consulate in benghazi. what is governor romney's take on what looks to be a resurgence of al-qaida in libya and a connection between all of these protests that we are seeing bursting out in the middle east? >> well governor romney has talked about for years the need for american strength and peace through strength. what we've seen with president obama is we don't know why he's leading from behind, we can't really figure out where he's taking a stand on these things, and the american people will judge him on the fact, are we more influential around the world than we were four years ago? and we simply are not. martha: does governor romney believe that we are still in a current war on terror in this country? >> we are. al-qaida is still active and present. this administration has been naive about that. his administration called bashar al-assad a reformer.

they haven't taken the steps necessary to insure that the arab spring doesn't become an arab winter. what we need is a strong america. we need to build up our military. president obama has made devastating cuts to our defense, which our own secretary of defense called devastating. while there are a lot of talk coming from the obama campaign when you look at actually how our standing is here and abroad we are not better off. governor romney understands the need to be resolute with our foes and adversaries and stand strong with our allies. martha: there is a feeling and bill was asking ben labolt if president obama will come out and speak about what is emerging, a very dangerous, perk lating situation in the east. there has also been criticism of the romney campaign that they spend too much time fundraising, not talking about what is going

on in the world. will governor romney address these issues and foreign policy which has become so front and center right now? >> he's been talking about these on the campaign trail, in countless interviews. next week you'll see that he has a bus tour throughout ohio, and governor romney and representative ryan are talking to person voters about what is important. as you saw last week he said it's never too early to express our support for american values. and on the economic front we need a strong economy so that our influence can be strong around the world. we've seen debt hit a record $16 trillion. more people are on food stamps than ever before. the jobs numbers that came out this morning of people that are unemployed again, or jobless claims, again are higher than expected and unfortunately that's what we've come to expect under this president. martha: and yet there is a feeling that the romney campaign hasn't been specific enough about what they would do that folks walking around the country

could say, yeah, i know what mitt romney would do, this. this and that. so there is pressure now, especially given the poll numbers that we are seeing for mitt romney to sort of have a specific vision for the country that people feel they can repeat, you know, that they feel that they understand and can wrap their arms around. how do you address that? >> two points on that. on the poll front we've actually seen the polls close over the past week, despite what you read. it's within the margin of error race. on the policy front governor romney does have a vision, but you're right we are going to continue talking about his plans to strengthen the middle class, to lift people up out of poverty, get people off of food stamps, insure that we have americans getting back to work, but not just working, but in good-paying jobs. and his plans include, you know, making us energy independent. getting our spending under

control. this president, we heard from his campaign recently right before me, and they talked about his plans to help the debt. well they haven't done anything on the debtor the deficit. we've seen $4 trillion deficits come from this president. martha: let me ask you this about because the last time that you had a significant pop in the polls, and a lot of very positive feeling was when paul ryan was picked as vice president in terms of this campaign as a candidate. is there an effort to sort of allow him to talk about his specific plan, how he sees his plan fitting in with governor romney's plan and to really talk about the debt and get out there more? some people people like they haven't seen enough of paul ryan in recent weeks. >> oh, paul ryan is campaigning constantly just as governor romney is. governor romney is at the top of the teublgt and together the romney-ryan ticket has put forth a plan so as soon as they are in office we are going to cut spending by 5% of the gdp which is about $20 billion.

we are going to cap it at 20% of the gdp. they are going to go line-by-line through the budget to make a decision, can we afford this and is it worth borrowing money from china to pay for it. we spend more money on interest paid to china than all infrastructure combined in this country. it's unacceptable. martha: i know you said you feel the poll numbers are tightening. and we've showed a variety of numbers that show an across the board look at where we are right now. there is a big gap in the current polls we got this morning. the fox news polls for ohio and for florida, and i guess my question is, you sound like you're comfortable where the poll numbers are right now. are you? >> absolutely. this is going to be a close race. we are under 50 days until the election. we still have got three debates to go for the candidates and one for the vice presidental candidates and i'll tell you, martha, the numbers that governor romney cares about and is focused on is 23 million americans are unemployment

-rblgs under employed or simply gave up looking for work. $16trillion in debt. 46million americans on food stamps. and so those are the numbers that have compelled him to run for office to get this economy back on track, and to help move our country back in the right direction. polls are going to go up and down but he's not running because of any polls, he is running because he wants to turn this country around. martha: one last question before i let you go. the question was put to ben labolt will we hear sort of a speech from the president, a major address on what is going on in the middle east. can we expect we will hear a speech or a major address on foreign policy from governor romney? >> governor romney has given lots of speeches on foreign policy. he did right before we went on a foreign trip. he's talking about it day in and day out. i expect you will continue to hear him balk about that as well as the economy, two areas where president obama has failed to increase our influence and strength. martha: we'll see, based on the

recent events if there is anything in the near future. andrea thank you. >> thank you. bill: a critical day in court for a man who spent decades behind bars for a notorious crime he says he never committed. and some high altitude anxiety. it's way up there. ♪ once more, high anxiety, it's always the theme, anxiety, it's you that i blame. ♪ ♪

bill: today could be the last day of testimony in the infamous murder case of jeffery mcdonald the former army doctor. in another bid to prove his innocence after having spent decades behind bars accused of

murder. he's accused of killing his entire family. jonathan serrie is on that story. wilmington, north carolina, who will testify today jonathan? >> reporter: well, speaking of that book and movie, joe mcginnis is already here inside the federal courthouse. he is the author who wrote about the jeffery mcdonald case in the 19783 book "faith tal vision" that led to a miniseries the next year. he is expected to be the prosecution's final witness and he says after all these years he hasn't changed his mind about mcdonald's guilt. >> the jury made the correct decision in 1979. it's been upheld by every appellate court that has looked at it in 33 years. i've heard nothing that happened this week that would change anyone's opinion one bit. >> fatal vision has defined this case for much of the american public. author mcginnis points out that

that was not the cause of jeffery mcdonald's incarceration, pointing out he wrote the book after mcdonald's 1979 conviction and after two of his appeals, bill. bill: what about his case? what has been the key testimony? >> reporter: yeah, well the defense has tried to prove that a convicted drug user had ben at the crime scene, but that she was afraid to testify about it out of fear of prosecution. this would add more weight to jeffery mcdonald's story that he and his family were attacked by strangers, outsiders, a group of drug-crazed hippies that broke into the family home in the early morning hours. the problem is all three of these witnesses are deceased. the defense has had to rely on spoerpb affidavits an sworn affidavits and secondhand testimony of this woman's brother and a family friend. whether that is enough to cast doubt on his guilt will be up to the judge.

bill: thank you, jonathan. live in wilmington, north carolina. martha: the obama administration repeatedly saying that an attack on our consulate in libya on september 11th was not a terror attack, they said it was spontaneous until now. the new political fallout next. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral to see a specialist. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp...

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martha:. here is where you don't want to be. stuck 300 feet in the air. dozens of amusement park riders in california up there getting more than they paid for or less you could say. the riders were stuck on the wind seeker for hours at knott's berry farm amusement park. an experience many say they will not soon forget. >> the reason why we were on there he is trying to get me over my fear of heights. so, when it stopped i, i had a real hard time. >> finally touched the ground felt likelying on the floor. thank you. martha: thank you, thank you. luckily no reports of injuries. the second time in two weeks the ride has malfunctioned.